Money Mondays: Should You Save Money or Buy Supplies?

When you first start your preparedness efforts, a common question that comes up is, should you save money or buy supplies? It is important to save some money for emergencies, but having water, food and other items for safety and security is also a priority.

I think both are equally important, so splitting between buying supplies and saving is what I would choose. If only $50 is available in the budget, then $25 goes to savings, and $25 goes to supplies. You still need savings in case of car repairs, medical bills or other unexpected expenses. These savings should not be touched for any reason other than an emergency. At the same time, having an emergency stash of water, food, toilet paper and other necessities for an emergency is a form of insurance: better to have it and not need it, than need it but not have it. If prices continue to rise the way they are right now, you would be buying supplies at today’s cheaper prices while you can still afford it. Just make sure you rotate your items so nothing expires and goes to waste.

A 50% split between savings and supplies works for me; your situation may vary as every one’s budget is different. If you have no supplies whatsoever, then you may want to consider spending more on supplies and less on savings temporarily: with the $50 example, $35 on supplies and $15 on savings. Regardless of the amount, being able to set aside something every month will give you peace of mind and confidence that you can cope with most emergencies.

Updated from a previous post that was originally published on 4/28/2011.

The 50% split between savings and supplies is a good idea. Of course, as noted, it may be desirable to change the ratio somewhat in different circumstances.

I definitely disagree with the theory of paying off debt, then building an emergency fund, THEN buying supplies … based on real-world personal experience:
Shortly after my wife and I started our “prep program”, our area had a nasty winter storm. We were without ‘grid power’ for 14 days. The ice on the roads was so bad that emergency crews could not get to us for the first 10 of those days. Life would have been “very difficult” – at best – for us and two of our elderly neighbors had I not bought an emergency generator a few months before the storm.

I would say having the basics for supplies is the first priority, mainly because it’s actually quite cheap to have the standard three days worth of supplies, still pretty cheap to have two weeks of supplies.
This is a good base to start from and ensures you’ll be okay for short term emergencies, from there you can split between paying down debt and acquiring supplies.